Chesterfield

Chesterfield is a market town in Derbyshire in the English Midlands, with a population of 76,402 in 2021. It's best known for it's "leaning spire", the twisted spire of St Mary's Church, but its chief attraction a few miles southeast is Hardwick Hall. It's also a good base for exploring the Peak District to the west.

Understand

The name "Chester" means a Roman camp, but there's no trace of it - presumably it's somewhere under a field, if only you could find a field. It was probably just a "marching camp" or similar temporary structure. Until the Middle Ages, Chesterfield was a hamlet and tract of farmland within the village of Newbold, which according to the Domesday Book had "six carucates and one bovate to the geld...there the king has 16 villans and one slave." Chesterfield market traded in local wool, leather and farm produce, plus salt from Cheshire.

All the area's villages grew from the 18th century with the onset of the Industrial Revolution, but Chesterfield outstripped them to become the main town. There were extensive coalfields, part of the Yorks-Derby-Notts "coal triangle" laid down in a long-ago swamp, and iron ores. The canal improved transport but even better was the railway, built by Stephenson from 1837. And while building it, he happened upon more coal deposits, which made him a rich man. He's buried in Holy Trinity: you could hardly bury this excellent engineer at St Mary's, which already by his day had taken on its distinctive skew-wiff.

Heavy industry collapsed in the late 20th century, precipitated by the miners' strike of 1985. The colliery sites felt derelict then were re-landscaped, to disappear as completely as the Roman camp. There was a move to light and service industries and today the largest employer is Royal Mail, who base their admin and pensions here.

Crooked Chesterfield

Chesterfield's most-recognisable landmark, clearly seen from any train passing by the town on the Sheffield to London mainline, is the crooked spire of St Mary's and All Saints Church. It was constructed in 1362, to sit atop a tower built earlier in the century. Although it was built straight, the spire has been both twisted and leaning for many hundreds of years, evidenced in the rich local folklore around the church. One story was that the Devil himself was seated one day on the church, with his tail wrapped around the spire, intent on causing mischief to the town. The townspeople bandied together to ring the church bells, which startled the Devil so much that he jumped and fled, with his swishing tail causing the spire to twist in its wake. Another less favourable estimation of Chesterfielders holds that a virgin once married in the church, and the church was so surprised that it craned its spire around to take a look at the bride. Should a virgin ever again marry in St Mary's Church, the spire will right itself!

The first attempt at an actual historical explanation for the spire's odd shape states that since it was constructed in the wake of the Black Death (bubonic plague), there must have been a lack of skilled craftsmen on hand to complete such a delicate job. The theory holds that a bunch of idiot builders simply bodged it, using the wrong kind of wood and poor techniques. This theory was added to at a later date by claims that the lead tiling that covers the spire twists because of a heat discrepancy when the sun is shining on one side and not the other. As for why this doesn't affect other church spires in the area is unknown; maybe the tales of clumsy devils and rarer-than-hen's-teeth virgins really are true.

Get in

By train

🌍 Chesterfield railway station. East Midlands Rail (EMR) trains from London St Pancras run hourly, taking 1 hr 45 min via Leicester and Derby. Trains from the West Country thunder through non-stop, so change at Derby if you are coming from Bristol or Birmingham, or at Sheffield from Wakefield, Leeds, York, Newcastle upon Tyne or Edinburgh. Hourly trains run from Stockport via Ilkeston and Alfreton. Any train heading north stops next to Sheffield so altogether these run every 30 min and take 30 minutes. Change at Sheffield for Manchester via the scenic Peak District line through Edale and Hathersage. Chesterfield station is east side of town off Crow Lane. It has a staffed ticket office and ticket machines, a waiting room and toilets. There is step-free access to all platforms. (updated Mar 2024)

By road

From the south take M1 to junction 29 then A617. From the north, junction 30 onto A619 is shorter but this road drags through a series of villages, it's generally quicker to stay on M1 to junction 29. From Sheffield follow A61 south.

Lots of town centre parking, for instance, the multi-storey by the bus station.

By bus

National Express NX560 runs four times a day from London Victoria, taking 3 hr 30 min and continuing to Sheffield.

Stagecoach Bus X17 runs every 30 min from Barnsley via Meadowhall and Sheffield, and continues to Matlock, Cromford and Wirksworth in the Peak District.

Bus 43 / 44 is a slower route every 20 min, taking 80 min from Sheffield via Dronfield, Newbold and Old Whittington. Bus 77 runs from Worksop every 30 min via Staveley.

Pronto Bus runs every 30 min from Nottingham, taking 1 hr 40 min via Mansfield.

Trentbarton Comet runs hourly from Derby, taking 1 hour 15 mins via Ripley, Alfreton and Clay Cross.

🌍 Chesterfield coach station is on Beckinsale Way off A619 Markham Rd.

Get around

The town is compact and walkable, but you need wheels to explore the surroundings and get into the Peak District. Pronto Bus to Mansfield drops you two miles north of Hardwick Hall.

Taxi firms are Central Cars (+44 1246 200500), A-Line (+44 1246 555555) and Door2Door (+44 1246 202020).

See
  • 🌍 St Mary's and All Saints Church (The Crooked Spire), Church Way S40 1XJ, ☏ +44 1246 206506. M-Sa 10AM-4PM. You couldn't build it deliberately if you tried: the famous spire was added in 1362 but is only described as "leaning" from the 18th century. It's primarily a rotation of 45°, plus a lean that takes its tip 9½ feet off-centre. Probably this arose by a combination of green timber shrinking, extra roof weight, lack of cross-bracing, and rot: subsidence isn't a factor as the church below stands true. The church is Anglican and the interior is mostly Victorian. There are guided tours of the tower most days April-Dec. Free; spire tour £10 adult, £5 child. (updated Mar 2024)
  • Chesterfield Museum opposite the church is closed for rebuilding. The new space, opening late 2025, will incorporate Pomegranate Theatre.
  • The Shambles are medieval alleyways just north of the bus station. Historically a place called "shambles" was the slaughterhouse and butchers' area, probably from Anglo-Saxon fleshammels, the benches or shelves where they displayed their wares. The word came to mean any horrible mess.
  • 🌍 Holy Trinity Church, 31 Newbold Rd S41 7PG, ☏ +44 7746 668257. This is Anglican, completed in 1838. Its notable feature is the grave of railway engineer George Stephenson (1781-1848), a plain slab within the sanctuary. He came to the Midlands to consult on a railway project, spotted land for sale with rich coal reserves, and snapped it up. (updated Mar 2024)
  • 🌍 Christ Church, completed in 1870, is a chapel-sized building at 91 Sheffield Rd, part of Holy Trinity parish.
  • 🌍 Chesterfield Canal starts from the River Rother near Tapton Park. It's a narrow-boat canal, max beam 7 ft 0 in / 2.13 m, and when completed in 1777 it ran 46 miles to the Trent at West Stockwith, exporting the town's iron ore. In 1906 mining subsidence collapsed Norwood Tunnel and severed the canal. The local section has been restored as far as Staveley and there's a footpath the full 46 miles, but completing the missing nine miles to the restored eastern section remains an aspiration.
  • 🌍 Tapton House the last residence of George Stephenson is now a business centre, but the park and gardens are free to access 24 hours.
  • 🌍 Eyre Chapel is late Saxon, a time when Newbold was a larger village than Chesterfield. It became the Eyre family chapel and vault, Roman Catholic, and was sacked by a Protestant mob in the 1680s. It's now the village hall.
  • 🌍 Queen's Park is a pleasant green space south bank of the River Hipper, reached by a footbridge from town centre. The cricket ground occasionally hosts games by Derbyshire CCC but their usual ground is in Derby.
  • 🌍 Revolution House, High Street, Old Whittington S41 9JZ, ☏ +44 1246 345727. Closed. 300 years ago this cottage was an alehouse, the Cock and Pynot - a pynot is a magpie. Three local bigwigs - the Earl of Devonshire (from nearby Chatsworth), the Earl of Danby and Mr John D'Arcy - here plotted to invite William and Mary of Orange to take the throne and replace the deeply unpopular King James II. This "Glorious Revolution" of 1688 succeeded and James was ousted, though he and his successors fought a sixty-year "Jacobite" campaign to try to regain the throne. The cottage is a small museum, temporarily closed in 2024 as part of budget cuts by the council. Free. (updated Mar 2024)
  • 🌍 Barrow Hill Roundhouse, Campbell Drive, Barrow Hill S43 2PR, ☏ +44 1246 475554. Mar-Dec Sa Su 10AM-4PM. A Roundhouse is a shed for parking steam locomotives, around a central turntable so they can be reversed or switched onto the railway. This one, which happens to be square, is the last functioning Roundhouse in Britain (though there are turntables elsewhere). There's a collection of heritage steam and diesel locos. The short spur of track is still connected to the main line. Adult £9, child £7. (updated Mar 2024)
  • 🌍 Hardwick Hall, Doe Lea S44 5QJ, ☏ +44 1246 850430. Daily 9:30AM-4:30PM. This grand mansion was built in the 1590s as a "prodigy house": one fit to accommodate royalty as the court progressed around the country, and all for show not defence. Bess of Hardwick, Elizabeth Talbot nee Cavendish (1521-1608), multiplied her wealth with every marriage - she also owned Chatsworth. "Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall" was the saying, as it was fronted by great windows. It rears up as you approach from the west via a one-way lane. Highlights within are the Great Hall, the staircase, staterooms and a long gallery; these are light on furniture but adorned with tapestry and paintings. After Bess died it was only a secondary home for the Dukes of Devonshire, so it escaped modernisation and retained its Tudorbethan features. The family was plunged into crisis in 1950 when the 10th Duke died suddenly in the presence of Dr Bodkin Adams the serial murderer - the estate was hit by heavy death duties and the Hall had to be sold to the National Trust. Within the gardens is Old Hardwick Hall, left to fall derelict once the new hall was complete. Old and New Halls are often used as TV and film locations, for instance as Malfoy Manor in the Harry Potter films. Adult £19, child £9.50, NT free. (updated Mar 2024)
  • 🌍 Stainsby Mill, Hodmire Lane, Doe Lea S44 5RW, ☏ +44 1246 850430. Part of the Hardwick Estate, this water mill was built in the 1840s and in use for a century. It was restored to working order in 1992. Adult £7.50, child £3.60, NT / NTS free. (updated Mar 2024)

Do
  • 🌍 Chesterfield FC, 1866 Sheffield Road, Whittington Moor S41 8NZ, ☏ +44 1246 269300. "The Spireites" play soccer in the National League, the game's fifth tier. Their home ground is SMH Group Stadium (aka Technique Stadium, capacity 10,500) on B6057 a mile north of the railway station. (updated Mar 2024)
  • Pomegranate Theatre. A traditional Victorian hall on Corporation St opposite St Mary's Church. (updated Mar 2024)
  • Winding Wheel is a larger performance space 100 yards west at 13 Holywell St.
  • Cineworld is on Alma Leisure Park off A61 Derby Rd.
  • Golf courses are Chesterfield GC, Tapton Park, South Chesterfield and Stanedge GC.

Buy
  • 🌍 Chesterfield Market, Market Place S40 1SR. M, Th-Sa 10AM-4PM. The largest market in the area, in a hall and open square. Its charter of 1204 states that the market cannot be closed down unless nothing is bought there for a week - although King John signed quite a few documents that everyone ignored, such as Magna Carta. (updated Mar 2024)
  • The Pavements, New Beetwell St S40 1PA (between bus station and market). M-Sa 8AM-8PM, Su 10AM-4PM. Shopping centre with typical brand names. It's clean but hollow, with many empty units. (updated Mar 2024)
  • The Yards is an alley east side of the Pavements, traditionally lined with small independent shops, but in 2024 looking sad and deserted.

Eat
  • Blaze Bar & Grill, 5 Stephenson Place S40 1XL (south side of Crooked Spire), ☏ +44 1246 200008. Tu-Th noon-10PM, F-Su 11AM-11PM. Describes itself as East Med, but mostly standard burgers and grills. (updated Mar 2024)
  • O-Tokuda, 37 Knifesmithgate S40 1RL (block west of Crooked Spire), ☏ +44 1246 556996. M, W-Sa 5-10PM, Su 4-10PM. Good Japanese menu, small portions but there's an all-you-can-eat buffet. (updated Mar 2024)
  • Bottle and Thyme, 15 Knifesmithgate S40 1RL (by O-Tokuda), ☏ +44 1246 768283. Tu-Th 9AM-10PM, F Sa 9AM-midnight, Su 10AM-3PM. Modern English cuisine. (updated Mar 2024)
  • Odyssey, 1 Knifesmithgate S40 1RF (block west of Premier Inn), ☏ +44 1246 721573. Tu-F 5-10PM, Sa 1-11PM, Su 1-9PM. Cheerful authentic Greek taverna. (updated Mar 2024)
  • Filippelli's Bistro is trad filling grub at 9 Glumangate behind the Odyssey, open M-Sa 8AM-3PM.
  • Indian Blues is no better than okay. It's at 7 Corporation St by the crooked spire, open daily 6-11PM.
  • Ashoka gets better reviews. It's a short way west at 19 Holywell St, open daily 5-11PM.
  • 🌍 The Old Post, 43 Holywell Street S41 7SH, ☏ +44 1246 468366. W-Sa 6-9PM. Relaxed dining in a charming old building. (updated Mar 2024)
  • 🌍 Northern Tea Merchants, 193 Chatsworth Road S40 2BA, ☏ +44 1246 232600. M-Sa 9AM-5PM. Cafe within a tea & coffee shop with sandwiches, panini and cakes. (updated Mar 2024)
  • 🌍 Crossroads Cafe, 51 Brimington Road North S41 9BE, ☏ +44 1246 453875. Su-F 8AM-2PM, Sa 8AM-12:30PM. Trad British food, mixed reviews. (updated Mar 2024)

Drink
  • Burlington just south of the crooked spire gets rotten reviews.
  • Market Pub, 95 New Square S40 1AH, ☏ +44 1246 273641. M-Sa 11AM-11PM, Su 12:30-11PM. Great traditional pub with good grub and ales, and a huge selection of gin. (updated Mar 2024)
  • The Hidden Knight likewise has good food. It's just north of Market Bar at 18 Soresby St, open M Tu 11:30AM-7PM, W-Sa 11:30AM-10PM, Su noon-4PM.
  • Portland Hotel is a JD Wetherspoon with rooms on West Bars.
  • 🌍 Rose & Crown, 104 Old Road, Brampton S40 2QT, ☏ +44 1246 563750. M Tu 3-11PM, W-Su noon-11PM. Buzzing pub with live music. (updated Mar 2024)

Sleep

Connect

As of March 2024, Chesterfield and its approach roads have 5G from all UK carriers.

Go next
  • Chatsworth House is ten miles west near Bakewell in the Peak District.
  • Go hiking in the attractive Peak District.
  • The city of Sheffield is 13 miles north.


Routes through Chesterfield
Leeds ← Sheffield/Rotherham ←  N  S  → Mansfield → Nottingham/Derby
Sheffield (South & West) ←  N  S  → Alfreton → Derby



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